January 25, 2011 - Anti-government protests begin across Egypt following the January 14 overthrow of Tunisia's president in the first of the "Arab Spring" uprisings.

January 28 - Mubarak orders troops and tanks into cities to quell demonstrations. Thousands cheer at news of intervention of the army, which is widely seen as a neutral force in politics, unlike police who are regularly deployed to stifle dissent.

January 31 - New government is sworn in. New vice president, Omar Suleiman, hitherto intelligence chief, says Mubarak has asked him to start dialogue with political forces.

February 1 - More than a million people around Egypt call for an end to Mubarak's rule.

February 4 - Thousands gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square to press again for an end to Mubarak's rule in a "Day of Departure".

February 10 - Mubarak says national dialogue under way, transfers powers to vice president.

February 11 - Mubarak steps down and a military council is formed to run the country's affairs.

February 22 - Tantawi swears in new cabinet but Muslim Brotherhood and others want it purged of Mubarak's ministers.

March 3 - Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq resigns and military asks former Transport Minister Essam Sharaf to form cabinet.

March 19 - Big majority of Egyptians approve amendments to the constitution in referendum. The amendments are designed to pave way for parliamentary and presidential elections.

March 23 - Egypt approves law easing curbs that choked political life under Mubarak.

April 8 - Thousands protest in Tahrir Square against delays in putting Mubarak on trial.

August 3 - Mubarak trial opens. Wheeled into a courtroom cage lying on a bed, Mubarak denies charges of killing protesters and abuse of power.

October 9/10 - Coptic Christians turn their fury on the army after at least 25 Christians are killed when troops break up a protest. Tension between Muslims and minority Christians is not new but has heightened since the anti-Mubarak revolt.

November 18 - Thousands of people, frustrated with military rule, protest in Tahrir Square and in other cities.

November 21 - Cabinet tenders its resignation.

November 22 - Tantawi promises that a civilian president will be elected in June 2012, six months sooner than the army had planned. Tantawi confirms parliamentary elections will begin on November 28 as planned.

November 25 - Thousands demanding an end to military rule, pack Tahrir Square in the biggest turnout of a week of protests and violence that has killed 42 people.

-- Kamal Ganzouri is named by the ruling army council to head a national salvation cabinet. He had served as prime minister under Mubarak from 1996 to 1999.

November 28 - First voting in election for the lower house. The staggered election runs through January.

December 23 - Thousands of Egyptians rally in Cairo and other cities to demand that the military give up power, and vent their anger after 17 people are killed in days of protests.

December 28 - Mubarak arrives in court on a hospital trolley as his trial resumes after a two month recess.

December 30 - Egypt's police raid U.S.-backed pro-democracy groups, drawing criticism from Washington which hints it could review its $1.3 billion of military aid to Egypt.

January 3-4, 2012 - Polls open in the third and final round of election for the lower house with the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) expected to maintain its lead.

January 14 - Former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei pulls out of the race to become president, saying "the previous regime" is still running the country.

January 16 - Egypt says it has asked the IMF for $3.2 billion in support as the country tries to fill a budget gap pushed wider by almost a year of political and economic turmoil.

January 23 - Parliament holds its first session after the first free elections in years. The Muslim Brotherhood's party is the biggest winner. A vote for the upper house starts in February.

March 10 - Doors open for hopefuls seeking to run in Egypt's first presidential election since Mubarak was ousted.

April 17 - Ten presidential candidates are disqualified from the presidential race, including Mubarak's former spy chief Omar Suleiman and top Muslim Brotherhood politician Khairat al-Shater. The Brotherhood fields reserve candidate Mohamed Mursi.

April 26 - Egypt's election committee announces that Ahmed Shafiq, Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, can run for president, two days after it disqualified him.

May 2 - Eleven people are killed in clashes between anti-army protesters and unidentified armed men. Fresh clashes erupt two days later, leaving one soldier dead. Army imposes curfew on affected area around the Defence Ministry.

May 10 - Former Arab League chief Amr Moussa and moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh face-off in Egypt's first presidential television debate.

May 23/24 - Voting due to start in first round of presidential election. No candidate is expected to get more than 50 percent of the vote, making a second round on June 16/17 likely.